Oklahoma Library Association

{{short description|Non-profit organization that promotes libraries}}

{{Infobox organization

| name = Oklahoma Library Association

| image = Oklahoma Library Association Logo.jpg

| abbreviation = OLA

| formation = 1907

| extinction =

| type = Non-profit

| status =

| purpose = "To strengthen the quality of libraries, library services and librarianship in Oklahoma."{{cite web|url=http://www.oklibs.org/?page=AboutOLA |title=About OLA |publisher=oklibs.org |date=2016-05-31 |accessdate=2016-05-31}}

| language =

| leader_title2 = President|

| leader_name2 = Dana Belcher

| num_volunteers =

| website = [http://www.oklibs.org OLA Website]

| remarks =

}}

The Oklahoma Library Association (OLA) is a non-profit organization that promotes libraries and library services and provides professional development for library personnel in the state of Oklahoma. OLA is a chapter of both the American Library Association and the Mountain Plains Library Association.{{cite journal | date = 1972 | title = Chapters | journal = American Libraries | publisher = American Library Association | volume = 3 | issue = 10 | pages = 1097–1098 }} OLA hosts workshops throughout the year and holds an Annual Conference.{{cite journal

| last = McElfresh

| first = Laura

| date = 2012

| title = E-Books, E-Readers, E-Gad!

| journal = Technicalities

| publisher = Library & Information Science Source

| volume = 32

| issue = 2

| pages = 4–7

}} OLA is the official sponsor of the Sequoyah Book Award, the third oldest U.S. state children's choice award.

[http://okla.affiniscape.com/displaycommon.cfm?an=1&subarticlenbr=109 "Sequoyah Book Awards"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120830205035/http://okla.affiniscape.com/displaycommon.cfm?an=1&subarticlenbr=109 |date=2012-08-30 }} (homepage). Oklahoma Library Association (OLA). Retrieved 2014-05-05.

History

OLA was formed on May 16, 1907 by a small group of librarians from the University of Oklahoma and nearby normal schools as well as public libraries. The meeting was hosted by the now-defunct Carnegie Library in downtown Oklahoma City.{{cite book|date=1937 |title=Oklahoma Libraries 1900–1937; a History and Handbook |url=http://digitalprairie.ok.gov/cdm/ref/collection/culture/id/1366 |publisher=Oklahoma Library Commission |pages=192–193}} These librarians were interested in forming a statewide library association to ensure the "statewide extension of tax-supported library service" and "to explore a more economical way of transporting...books."{{cite journal

| last1 = Finchum | first1 = Tanya

| last2 = Finchum

| first2 = G. Allen

| date = 2011

| title = Not Gone with the Wind: Libraries in Oklahoma in the 1930s

| journal = Libraries & the Cultural Record

| publisher = University of Texas Press

| volume = 46

| issue = 3

| pages = 276–294

| doi = 10.1353/lac.2011.0015

| s2cid = 159286414

}}

OLA has sponsored the Read Y'all celebrity poster literacy campaign and the Mildred Laughlin Festival of Books.{{cite web| url = http://www.oklibs.org/?page=01Sequoyah| url-status = dead| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140808155132/http://www.oklibs.org/?page=01Sequoyah| archive-date = 2014-08-08| title = Sequoyah Book Awards - Oklahoma Library Association}} {{cite news |author=Oklahoman |title=Oklahoma TV star featured on library association's poster |url=http://newsok.com/article/3081286 |newspaper=The Oklahoman |location=Oklahoma City |date=July 12, 2007 |access-date=June 20, 2016 }}{{cite web| url = http://www.oklibs.org/?page=MildredLaughlin| url-status = dead| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150911045512/http://www.oklibs.org/?page=MildredLaughlin| archive-date = 2015-09-11| title = Mildred Laughlin Festival of Books for Young People - Oklahoma Library Association}} OLA used to publish a newsletter called Oklahoma Librarian, which ceased in 2018. https://www.oklibs.org/page/Oklahoma_Librarian (( |access-date=July 9, 2020 ))

Notable Members

References